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From: John Hasler on 17 Mar 2010 20:39
Artist writes:
> There are several installations I did using Debian apt-get before I
> found out I really should have been using aptitude.

I wrote:
> Why do you believe that?

Artist writes:
> http://www.garfieldtech.com/blog/your-debian-aptitude

apt-get can do everything aptitude can, including installing
"recommends" by default. It even has super cow powers. There is no
reason to prefer one front-end over another except personal preference.
--
John Hasler
jhasler(a)newsguy.com
Dancing Horse Hill
Elmwood, WI USA
From: Nico Kadel-Garcia on 17 Mar 2010 23:41
On Mar 17, 8:39 pm, John Hasler <jhas...(a)newsguy.com> wrote:
> Artist writes:
> > There are several installations I did using Debian apt-get before I
> > found out I really should have been using aptitude.
> I wrote:
> > Why do you believe that?
> Artist writes:
> >http://www.garfieldtech.com/blog/your-debian-aptitude
>
> apt-get can do everything aptitude can, including installing
> "recommends" by default.  It even has super cow powers.  There is no
> reason to prefer one front-end over another except personal preference.

As a man who appreciates the finer features of various front ends, I'd
like to suggest that someone who claims that it's merely "personal
preference" has not had to deal with some of the less fortunate front
ends of software. And I highly recommend Eric Raymond's article on
"The Luxury of Ignorance" for some examples of why a good front end
matters, a lot, for software.
From: John Hasler on 18 Mar 2010 08:29
Nico Kadel-Garcia writes:
> As a man who appreciates the finer features of various front ends, I'd
> like to suggest that someone who claims that it's merely "personal
> preference" has not had to deal with some of the less fortunate front
> ends of software.

I was referring specifically to the three Apt front-ends. I've used
Dselect (which is not based on Apt).

> And I highly recommend Eric Raymond's article on "The Luxury of
> Ignorance" for some examples of why a good front end matters, a lot,
> for software.

Of course it matters. You injected the word "merely". It is still
personal preference: all three produce the same result. Recall that the
OP was worried that he might need to redo his installations because he
had used the "wrong" front end. Most users will prefer Synaptic because
it matches their GUI experience. However, if such a user does manage to
install some packages using Apt-get they are just as installed as if she
had used Synaptic. Use the one you like best or switch around if you
wish. It'll work. It's Debian.
--
John Hasler
jhasler(a)newsguy.com
Dancing Horse Hill
Elmwood, WI USA
From: The Natural Philosopher on 18 Mar 2010 08:53
John Hasler wrote:
> Nico Kadel-Garcia writes:
>> As a man who appreciates the finer features of various front ends, I'd
>> like to suggest that someone who claims that it's merely "personal
>> preference" has not had to deal with some of the less fortunate front
>> ends of software.
>
> I was referring specifically to the three Apt front-ends. I've used
> Dselect (which is not based on Apt).
>
>> And I highly recommend Eric Raymond's article on "The Luxury of
>> Ignorance" for some examples of why a good front end matters, a lot,
>> for software.
>
> Of course it matters. You injected the word "merely". It is still
> personal preference: all three produce the same result. Recall that the
> OP was worried that he might need to redo his installations because he
> had used the "wrong" front end. Most users will prefer Synaptic because
> it matches their GUI experience. However, if such a user does manage to
> install some packages using Apt-get they are just as installed as if she
> had used Synaptic. Use the one you like best or switch around if you
> wish. It'll work. It's Debian.

Are you sure?

I got in a mess here using apt-get to install stuff, that synaptic then
decided 'wasn't required' and promptly removed.

I've religiously stuck to synaptic since then..after a complete
reinstall (for other reasons)



From: John Hasler on 18 Mar 2010 10:38
The Natural Philosopher writes:
> I got in a mess here using apt-get to install stuff, that synaptic
> then decided 'wasn't required' and promptly removed.

That is either a bug in Synaptic or (more likely) packages that Apt
installed as dependencies on other packages which you later removed.

In any case the trouble is minor as reinstallation is trivial.
--
John Hasler
jhasler(a)newsguy.com
Dancing Horse Hill
Elmwood, WI USA
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